Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Madness, The Robot Revolution And Traumatic Births
The New Yorker: Madness
Shortly after Harriet Krzykowski began working at the Dade Correctional Institution, in Florida, an inmate whispered to her, “You know they starve us, right?” It was the fall of 2010, and Krzykowski, a psychiatric technician, had been hired by Dade, which is forty miles south of Miami, to help prisoners with clinical behavioral problems follow their treatment plans. (Eyal Press, 4/24)
The New York Times: The Dangers Of ‘Polypharmacy,’ The Ever-Mounting Pile Of Pills
Dr. Caleb Alexander knows how easily older people can fall into so-called polypharmacy. Perhaps a patient, like most seniors, sees several specialists who write or renew prescriptions. (Paula Span, 4/22)
The New York Times: For Police, A Playbook For Conflicts Involving Mental Illness
People with mental illnesses are overrepresented among civilians involved in police shootings: Twenty-five percent or more of people fatally shot by the police have had a mental disorder, according to various analyses. (Erica Goode, 4/25)
The Atlantic: The Robot Revolution In Caregiving
Modern medicine and increasing longevity have conspired to boost the need for social care, whether in the home or in institutions. “There’s a pressing requirement for robots in the social care of the elderly, partly because we have fewer people of working age,” says Tony Belpaeme, a professor in intelligent and autonomous control systems at Plymouth University. Traditionally among the poorest paid of the workforce, carers are an ever more scarce resource. Policy makers have begun to cast their eyes towards robots as a possible source of compliant and cheaper help. (Geoff Watts, 4/25)
CNN Money: I Want To Bring Health Care To Undocumented Immigrants
Denisse Rojas was inspired to become a doctor by her undocumented immigrant family's struggle to obtain health care. But her path has taken her much further than that. She not only went on to become the first undocumented student to attend the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, she has also made it possible for thousands of other undocumented students to attend medical schools all across the U.S. (Octavio Blanco, 4/21)
NPR: Electric Currents And An 'Emotional Awakening' For One Man With Autism
As someone with autism spectrum disorder, John Elder Robison knows what it's like to feel emotionally removed from situations. Robison tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross that throughout his life people have told him, "There's this emotional language you're missing. There are stories in people's eyes. There are messages." Podcast. (4/21)
WBUR: A Death, And A ‘Changed Life’: Traumatic Births Take Toll On Health Workers Too
Everything seemed fine until the little boy was born. He wasn’t breathing, but his heart was strong, recalled Stephanie Avila, the midwife attending the baby’s birth at a Rhode Island hospital back in 2012. But it soon became clear that the boy had suffered a brain injury during labor. (Rachel Zimmerman, 4/22)
